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Public hearing held on 1032 Martin Luther King Jr. St. rehab; applicant seeks 12-year exemption for 5 residential units and retail
Summary
City staff introduced a proposal to rehabilitate 1032 Martin Luther King Jr. St. into five residential units and retail, with an estimated $794,000 construction cost and an applicant request for a 12-year exemption certificate; the commission heard testimony from the applicant and neighbors but took no final vote.
City staff opened a public hearing on a redevelopment proposal for 1032 Martin Luther King Jr. St., describing the project as a rehabilitation of a functionally obsolete building into five residential units and street-level retail.
The staff presenter, identified in the record as Miss Renaud, said the proposed scope includes four one-bedroom units and one two-bedroom unit, an expected construction cost of $794,000 and an aspirational inclusion goal of 41% for micro local women- and minority-owned businesses. The proposal requests a 12-year exemption certificate above and beyond the base exemption, and aims for Energy Star environmental certification. Renaud also noted that the city’s Brownfield Redevelopment Authority previously considered an emerging developer grant for the project.
The applicant, Laura Shivas Scott, testified that she and her late husband had worked on the property since 2017 and that the project had gained momentum with support from Cella Development. "So far, it looks very positive…We're gonna have the work units. They're gonna be storefronts or you can live in a unit and have a storefront," Scott said, describing the intention to combine residential and small-business opportunities at the site.
Peter Squiria of Cella Development and a number of neighborhood residents spoke in favor of the redevelopment. Mark (identified in the record as Mark from Grand Rapids) offered condolences on the death of the applicant’s husband and called the proposal a continuation of that vision. Several neighborhood speakers and elected officials praised the project’s potential to add housing supply in the Third Ward.
Commissioner comments added context on affordability targets. Commissioner Perdue explained typical income interpretations for AMI bands and cited staff estimates provided for this project: an approximate 60% AMI household income near $42,000 (with potential to $60,000 depending on household size) and an approximate 80% AMI range around $56,000–$64,000. Perdue said the project’s staff-estimated rental rates would be roughly $941 for a one-bedroom at the lower AMI and about $1,175 for a one-bedroom at the higher AMI, with two-bedroom rents cited near $1,500 at the higher range.
No final commission vote on the exemption certificate was recorded during the hearing; the item remained in the public-hearing phase and will proceed through the commission’s usual approval process with staff follow-up and any required findings. The Brownfield Redevelopment Authority’s earlier engagement and the applicant’s grant award were discussed as part of the project record.
